HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2015!

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

CLUB CADILLAC

Cadillac (formally the Cadillac Motor Car Division), is a division of U.S.-based General Motors Company (GM) that markets luxury vehicles worldwide. Cadillac's primary markets are the United States, Canada, and China, but Cadillac-branded vehicles are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Historically, Cadillac automobiles have always been the luxury icon within the United States of America. In 2012, Cadillac's U.S. sales were 149,782 vehicles.

Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile brand following fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest automobile brands in the world. Cadillac was founded from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company in 1902, almost 9 years before Chevrolet was founded. The company was named after Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who founded Detroit, Michigan. The Cadillac crest is based on his coat of arms.

This classic car is parked in High Street, Northcote and looks as though it has had some enthusiast's serious love given to it. It has a 'Club Permit' number plate, which denotes the fan status of the owner.

The Victorian club permit scheme allows members of car clubs (including motorcycle, trailer/caravan and machinery clubs) that are recognised by VicRoads to make limited use of historic vehicles on the road network. A club permit can be issued to the following vehicles in the following categories:

• Veteran vehicles – manufactured before 1 January 1919;
• Vintage vehicles – manufactured after 31 December 1918 and before 1 January 1931;
• Classic and Historic vehicles – manufactured after 31 December 1930, but more than 25 years before the date of the application for a club permit.

These categories can include trailers and modified vehicles such as street rods. Vehicles which are replicas of vehicles in the above-mentioned categories may also be issued with a club permit. Club permits are issued for 12 month periods and vehicles are issued with specific club permit plate(s).

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

FRANKSTON LIBRARY MURAL

Frankston is a seaside suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, located in the local government area of the City of Frankston. It is 41 km south-east of the Melbourne city centre, near the northernmost point of the Mornington Peninsula. Due to its geographical location, it is often referred to as the “Gateway to the Mornington Peninsula”.

The Frankston Library has been transformed into a veritable Wonderland through theaddition of some beautiful murals featuring characters from “Alice in Wonderland”. The murals were painted by local artists Brigitte Dawson and Melissa Turner (see: www.melbournesmurals.com.au).

These artists have painted more than 1000 murals in Australia and abroad and they took on the project at the Frankston Library happily, wanting to bring a splash of colour to their home town. The mural is painted in a “trompe l’oeil” style, especially so the garden scene on the far wall, making the white rabbit’s garden blend in with the real plantings.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

SUBURBAN IDYLL

A quiet suburban street in Melbourne, with a footpath shaded by verdant, shady trees from front yards of single occupancy houses. An idyllic living space under threat as more and more housing developments demolish these houses and replace them with flats, units and apartment towers. Overdevelopment is ruining our suburbs - enjoy these surviving pockets and remember the suburbs as they all were while you still can...

This post is part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

CHRISTMAS AT THE PARKLANDS

The Darebin Parklands straddle Alphington and Ivanhoe, approximately 10 kilometres northeast of the City of Melbourne, and they are a district park covering an area of 33 hectares. Darebin Creek flows through the Parklands, to join the Yarra River, at Alphington.

The Darebin Parklands are highly regarded for its social, recreation, education, conservation, water quality management, cultural and heritage values. The Parklands have a rich history as the homeland of the Wurundjeri Willam people and for cattle and sheep grazing, orchard and market garden use post European settlement. The southern section of the Darebin Parklands was developed as a bluestone quarry in 1890 and following the closure of the quarry in 1965, the land was leased to the Northcote Council as a municipal garbage tip which reached its capacity by 1975.

In the 1970’s the site was marked as a potential freeway or an area for industrial or residential development. Following this classification, local residents moved to protect the area and in 1973, formed the Rockbeare Park Conservation Group. The group pushed for the acquisition of land on the Alphington side and in 1975 the Whitlam Government funded the purchase of land for the park (thank you, Gough!). A management committee was formed which included both adjoining Councils and community representatives. In 2001, the Darebin Parklands Committee of Management joined the Darebin Creek Co- ordinating Committee to form the Darebin Creek Management Committee.

The Darebin Parkland’s rich history has contributed greatly to it being such a special and highly valued place today. These Parklands are within walking distance of our house and we often go there to enjoy a piece of nature right in the middle of the City. Christmas Day this year was an absolute gem of a day and the walk in the Parklands was magical.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Photo of the Week meme.

RIVER VISTA

Along the Yarra River, looking towards the East, with Melbourne's tallest skyscraper the Eureka tower visible mid-right. Eureka Tower is a 297.3-metre skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 97 - PINK FLOWERING GUM

Corymbia ficifolia or the red flowering gum also known as Albany red flowering gum (previously known as Eucalyptus ficifolia) is one of the most commonly planted ornamental trees in the broader eucalyptus family. In 2009, genetic studies showed that C. ficifolia comprises a natural group with two other Western Australian species C. calophylla and C. haematoxylon. The group was classified as section Calophyllae within the subgenus Corymbia.

It is native to a very small area of south coastal Western Australia (measured in just tens of kilometres) to the east of Walpole (430 km Southeast of Perth), but is not considered under threat in the wild. In nature Corymbia ficifolia prefers infertile, sandy soils but it is readily adaptable to most temperate locations, provided it is not exposed to severe frost or sustained tropical damp.

It is an ideal street tree as it is hardy, moderately fast growing, and rarely grows large enough to require pruning. The largest known single-stemmed tree in the world (216.5 cm diameter) is located on Princes Street in Hamilton, New Zealand. Because of its big and lovely colourful flowers, genetic improvement for cold resistance in Dublin area in Ireland is being carrying out by collecting seeds from Western and Southern Australia in the coldest parts of Australia where it grows. In Ireland most of the plants were killed by severe frosts but the surviving shoots have been kept by tissue culture.

It is difficult to graft but grows well from seed, typically taking about 7 years before it flowers for the first time and 15–20 years to reach something approaching its full size of anything between 2–8 m. For the home gardener, buying a "red flowering gum" from a nursery is something of an adventure: it may or may not be a ficifolia, and the flower colour does not breed true - there is no way to find out what colour the flowers will be short of planting a seedling and waiting for it to reach maturity! But one does get a wonderful surprise if pink or orange blooms appear...

We saw this lovely specimen at its very blooming best during our Christmas morning walk around the neighbourhood. Merry Christmas to all!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

XMAS EVE: YARRA RIVER & SOUTHBANK

By the end of the day on Xmas Eve, the City starts to wind down as people head home. The traffic is much reduced, less people are about and one can enjoy a more leisurely amble along the banks of the Yarra. In the end, I did not linger indefinitely and I headed home too!

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

MYER CHRISTMAS GIFTORIUM

Melbourne's large Depart Store, Myer, has devised a Christmas Giftorium, a one-stop destination for festive gift-giving. Giftorium offers a variety of new services to make Christmas shopping easy and enjoyable, including expert "Gifticians" who are available in-store to help everyone find the perfect gift for all on your Christmas gift list!

There are product demonstrations and fun, interactive product displays. All stores have a range of activities on every Saturday until Christmas, including face painting, balloon art, musical performances, Christmas tree and table dressing demonstrations, appearances from children's characters, beauty workshops and children's Christmas book readings. Santa's train is a bonus!

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.